Moscow Metro launches Face Pay System
Many transit agencies in China and Japan has experimented with facial recognition fare payment system, including Shenzhen Metro and JR East. Moscow Metro is the new entrant and the first one to deploy Face Pay at a large scale. The agency launched the payment for travel using face recognition at 240 metro stations.
The riders require to link their photo, a bank card with fare payment, and a Troika card to the service via the Moscow Metro app to use Face Pay. To enter the station, they need to look at the camera on the turnstile. Currently, there are special turnstiles that can be used for this option.
Moscow Metro estimated that 10-15 percent of riders will be using the face pay system in the next 2-3 years. There are some privacy concern but the authority ensured that all information will be securely encrypted – the camera on the turnstile reads the biometric key, and not the face image or other personal data.